Inca Trail Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Inca Trail Marathon is a mountain trail race of 26.2 miles in the Peruvian Andes near Machu Picchu, run once a year as part of a guided running tour organised by the tour operator Erik's Adventures. The company held the first official 26.2-mile race on the Inca Trail in 2012, with 41 runners. Since 2023 the course has no longer used the classic four-day Inca Trail. It follows the Salkantay Inca Trail instead, going over two high mountain passes, past a glaciated peak of about 20,000 feet and down into high Amazon rainforest, and it finishes at Lucmabamba, inside the Machu Picchu national park and sanctuary. The organisers give the maximum elevation as 15,290 feet, and a typical hiker needs 3.5 days for the route. The full marathon starts at 5:50am and a half-distance Incathon at 6:30am, with at least three aid stations and an enforced cutoff at mile 16 at 2pm. Runners camp near the start the night before. The 2026 race was held in August and the 2027 race is on 8 November, with entry sold as a nine-day tour package that also includes Cusco sightseeing and a guided visit to Machu Picchu.